2021 Edition
“When you embrace your difference, your DNA, your look or heritage or religion or your unusual name, that’s when you start to shine.”
-Bethenny Frankel
ABOUT US Here at AMWA UTD, we want to do our very best to inform you of all of the issues relevant to women and healthcare, together and separately. We hope that our monthly newsletter becomes an enlightening source to you all as we learn about the multitudes of important topics and issues that we all need to be aware of.
IMPORTANT CLUB EVENTS
3/3 @ 6 PM - GBM #2 3/7-3/13- Volunteering and Fundraising Week 3/12 @ 5:30 PM- AMWA UTD Baking Class 3/23 @ 5 PM- TPR GRE Careers Workshop
3/24 @ 6 PM- UEMR EMS Crash Course
RSVP UNDER OUR CALENDAR TAB
IMPORTANT NATIONAL EVENTS
3/2 @ 7 PM - AMWA LEADS Program Committee
3/3 @ 8 PM - Building Your Personal Toolkit for Success- AMWA LEADS 2021 “The Magic of Coaching” Networking Session
3/4 @ 7:30 PM - RESCHEDULED: The Truth About Stress: Part 3 of Reflection Series
3/8 @ 3 PM- One World, One War Against COVID-19: Vaccines and Therapeutics 3/10 @ 8 PM - Your Passion Matters- AMWA LEADS 2021 “The Magic of Coaching” Networking Session
3/16 @ 7 PM- AMWA LEADS Program Committee 3/17 @ 8 PM- Decision Making for Resilient Leadership- AMWA LEADS 2021 “The Magic of Coaching” Networking Session 3/24 @ 7:30 PM- 4th Event of Reflection Series: Creating a Sustainable Career in Medicine
3/25-28- 2021 AMWA LEADS Virtual Meeting
VISIT OUR NATIONAL AMWA INFO TAB FOR MORE INFO
NATIONAL OBSERVANCES
-National Nutrition Month
-Save Your Vision Month
-National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day; March 10 -National Sleep Awareness Week; March 14 - 20
-World Oral Health Day; March 20
-World Down Syndrome Day; March 21
-World Tuberculosis Day; March 24
-American Diabetes Alert Day; March 26
-Epilepsy Awareness - Purple Day; March 26
-National Doctors’ Day; March 30
WHAT'S POPPIN' IN POP CULTURE
BY: JANVI PATEL & MEGAN ZACHARIAH
The 6th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assemble met last month to discuss their 2030 goals for increasing opportunities in underrepresented areas, citing that only 30% of all females pursue higher education in STEM fields.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised nearly $5 million dollars in fundraising donations for Texas relief from the recent winter storms.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder, and CEO of dating app Bumble becomes the youngest woman to become a self-made billionaire
Alyssa Carson, a 19-year-old girl from Hammond, Louisiana, is the youngest astronaut in training and maybe the first person to ever step foot on Mars.
Hollywood power couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting a divorce after 7 years of marriage and 4 kids.
Image: Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd
MIND OVER MATTER: MARCH MIDTERMS- STUDY EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY
BY: SHRADDHA TREHAN & ZARAH RAHMAN
mental health /men-tal health/, n. something that sorely needs to be taken care of and loved, even though some may tell you differently.
Shraddha’s Study Tips!
Midterms are a pretty stressful time during any college student’s life. Balancing a regular life, work, school schedule can be taxing, but adding exams and grades on to it bumps the pressure to a whole new level. Finding your zen during this time, though difficult, is extra important so that you can study stress-free and get the sleep you need! Instead of relying on cups and cups of coffee, here are some of my favorite ways to get ahead so that I can be the best version of myself during exams and come out calm and collected when it’s all over!
Process Your Notes: I find that figuring out what kind of learner you are and the best way to take notes based on that learning style can really help stay on top of a class. Personally, I am a kinesthetic learner, which means that re-typing, re-writing, and re-organizing my notes is my best friend. I also suggest tactile-based models and using lots of hand motions to get you into your groove!
Consolidate Frequently: The better you know something, the shorter amount of words you should be able to explain it in. Going over my notes again and again and condensing them every time so that I understand it so well I can write all the material out on one page is a secret key I have found to memorizing things effectively and efficiently. If it’s textbooks: highlight, then write out what you highlighted, and then start the paraphrasing. If it’s flashcards: separate all your Anki/Quizlet/Handwritten decks into smaller and smaller categories.
Plan Ahead: Buy yourself a cute planner from Barnes & Noble or Etsy! Mark those tasks off and allow yourself the satisfaction of knowing you did something and you did it right. Pro tip: Put things down you know you’ll get done during the day (makeup, making the bed, brushing your teeth) so you always feel at least a little accomplished - it’ll definitely boost your mood! I also recommended downloading syllabi and planning out each week on Sunday/Monday. This way, you know what you have to do each day and the work is always equally spread out!
Zarah’s Study Tips!
Plan Ahead: I definitely agree with Shraddha on this one! Buying a planner from Target was one of the best purchases I made in 2021. Having a planner with a calendar and task list really helped me visualize and prioritize assignments, projects, and exams. Plus, I had a clear idea of what I wanted my day to look like and where I needed to dedicate the most time. Take some time in the mornings to plan out your day, it takes the pressure off of having to remember fleeting information later on!
Schedule Regular Time for Study: Scheduling time to study and being consistent with the schedule is crucial to improving how you learn. Getting into a routine and consciously preparing for the work ahead of you can keep you motivated and on track so you can get through assignments quickly. By working around your dedicated study block, you can maximize the amount of work you do in a given period of time.
Nip Confusion in the Bud: Understanding how you learn and testing new study methods to consolidate information is crucial to active learning. When you’re confused about a topic or a concept, I find that writing down questions as they come to mind be extremely helpful in identifying confusion. I look at the questions and categorize them to see if there are any trends or overlaps. This gives me a fairly good idea of what I need to review to grasp the material.
WHAT'S IN YOUR FOOD?
BY: JANVI PATEL
The start of March also kicks off the start of National Nutrition Month. In honor of this, here are some common nutritional myths debunked!
High-fat foods are unhealthy. Food manufacturers worldwide have caught onto the newest nutrition fads- eating low-fat foods in an attempt to be healthy. As a result, a plethora of foods mark low fat or no fat can be seen in grocery stores for foods such as whipped cream and cream cheese. It’s important to recognize, however, that low-fat doesn’t always make a food unhealthy and it’s important to recognize the nutritional value of a food item as a whole. Some high-fat foods can be extremely nutritious and some low-fat foods may be unhealthy. Furthermore, low-fat diets have been linked to health issues such as metabolic syndrome. Though many high-fat foods may be unhealthy, it’s not recommended to cut them out completely. Balance is key!
All smoothies and juices are healthy. Smoothie establishments such as Smoothie King and juicers such as Press are extremely popular as more and more people try to be nutritious. Though there are worse alternatives, many products from these stores aren’t always as healthy as their marketing may make them out to be. Many of these drinks can be loaded with sugars in order to make them tasty resulting in them being calorie-dense and not very nutritious. Instead, opting for smoothies made with only fruits and veggies with little things added or made at home would be more beneficial.
High cholesterol foods are unhealthy. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America and as a result, many people are highly conscious of their cholesterol intake, and rightly so. It’s important to address, however, that not all cholesterol-rich foods are unhealthy! In fact, many healthy foods are cholesterol-rich such as yogurt and eggs. These foods, along with others that are rich in cholesterol can be nutritious in moderation.
In nutrition, as in life, moderation is key to living a healthy lifestyle. I hope these tips help you make healthier choices in your lives!
CONTINUING THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
BY: MEGAN ZACHARIAH
Image: First10EM
The year 2020 has been known for many things from the continuation of the civil rights movements to a global pandemic. However many may have forgotten that among these events, a particularly scathing article resurfaced over the summer months, once again demonstrating the systematic discrimination women face in the world of healthcare.
The article in question, titled “Prevalence of unprofessional media content among young vascular surgeons”, was initially published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery in December 2019 but has since been retracted. Experimental procedure involved “judging public social media posts of women wearing bikinis on off-hours as “potentially unprofessional” and comparing these findings with patient trust. The implication of this study was that patients do research prior to consulting a physician in order to determine their level of credibility. Though patients may perform personal research, the research group concentrated its study on female physicians and their presence on personal social media accounts. In addition to the skewed study, the group was also unable to find statistically significant results relating a self-defined “unprofessional” social presence and patient trust.
Despite being scientifically unfounded, the issue with this study lies in a deeper-rooted problem within healthcare. Since Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell first lauded equal opportunity within the field, pervasive discrimination has been a near-constant in the field, though under different names. It began with defining the scope of female ability, as highlighted by Dean Oliver Holmes of Harvard Medical School who rejected Dr. Blackwell for not having the “mental facilities necessary” to undergo extensive medical training, a consequence of her sex. It later evolved into systemic discrimination in which women were not only earning less compared to their male peers but were also judged for their decision to start families, a choice that would often influence job security or school admissions. And finally, in 2019, we see that the underlying prejudice evolved into scrutinizing women’s personal lives as reflections of their professional credibility, a reality that many have pointed out does not apply to their male counterparts.
Thus was the birthplace of #MedBikini, a bold movement spearheaded by female healthcare professionals that unapologetically demonstrated their right to express their femininity. The movement targeted the inherent sexism that women face on a day-to-day basis that was only illuminated by the publication of this article.
“Me posing in a bikini on Sunday does not dictate the quality of care you will receive from me on Monday,” said Dr. Nicole Sparks on her social media.
Though accessibility for women has greatly improved over the past decades, it is clear that there is still significant progress to be had in destigmatizing the role of women as healthcare professionals. Our role as aspiring healthcare professionals is to stand in solidarity with victims of the pervasive double standard present within the system. By vocalizing our dissent of damaging practices and biases, we demonstrate that the healthcare system we represent upholds the tenets of respect and equity without discrimination on the basis of creed, race, or sex.
SLEEPING INCREASES YOUR GPA!- NATIONAL SLEEP AWARENESS WEEK (3/8-3/14)
BY: SHRADDHA TREHAN
“The GPAs of students receiving 9+ hours of sleep per night were significantly higher (3.24) than those of students receiving 6 or fewer hours of sleep per night (2.74).” – The Learning Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The week of February 14th through February 21st of 2021 was brutal for most Texas residents, but I imagine particularly so for those of us in college. Why? Midterms followed. With the loss of one week to study and to take tests, the weeks that follow (at least for me) are kind of brutal. The first thing, I find, that most college students give up when circumstances such as these arise – sleep. However, aptly timed, March hosts National Sleep Awareness Week (and bonus – National Caffeine Awareness Month), so I am going to tell all of you about why giving up on some Zzzs may not be the perfect plan.
Sleep Awareness Week begins at the start of Daylight Savings when most Americans lose an hour of sleep as we spring forward into Spring. In 2020, the National Sleep Foundation’s (NSF) annual Sleep in America poll showed that “Americans feel sleepy on average three times a week, with 62% trying to shake it off as their primary responsibility.” The fact that we respond to something so vitally important with a mantra akin to a Taylor Swift song is probably not the best solution. The NSF further found that those who feel sleepy 5-7 days a week (this encompasses more than 25% of all adult Americans) report especially high rates of irritability (52%), headaches (40%), and feeling unwell (34%). What do most of us do? We get a cup of coffee and try to go about our day, right? The problem with this is that we continue the cycle, never truly fixing the problem of poor sleep, but finding a temporary fix in caffeine. Caffeine fixes within themselves can be pretty problematic. Yes, there are proven health benefits of caffeine (reduction in the risk of throat cancer and stroke), but also consuming more than 400 mg per day can lead to anxiety, insomnia, and increased blood pressure – all the things bad sleep can do on its own, and all the things we are trying to avoid!
Pro tip: In case you can’t quite get rid of that coffee bug, here are some drink combos to keep you fueled but within the healthy limit:
- 3 cups of coffee and one energy drink
- 3 pieces of dark chocolate, 2 cups of coffee, and 1 energy drink
- 2 energy drinks and 4 shots of espresso (two tall lattes)
- 2 cups of coffee, 2 energy drinks, and 1 shot of espresso
- 4 energy drinks and a shot of espresso
The catch in all of this is that we can’t just get the NSF recommended 7-9 hours of sleep, but we need to get them where we wake up “feeling refreshed, alert, and able to be fully productive throughout your waking hours.” We know it’s especially important for college students to gain the appropriate amount of sleep, as bad sleep can not only lead to mental health problems and bad grades, but long-term one could be looking at hypertension, heart attack, diabetes, faulty brain function, and immune system deficiency. So, what can we do? Some things one can try include: going to bed early, only using your bed for sleep (no studying, reading, or watching TV there!), getting out of bed and doing something relaxing if you can’t sleep, limiting naps, and trying to “wind down” from your technology 15-30 minutes before you sleep. There are plenty of more tips and tidbits, but these are the ones I find to be the easiest to adjust into your daily routine. Trust me, I get it. Sleep as a college student is hard to come by and coffee is really easy to drink. But with the undergraduate to graduate years gaining on us and the rest of our lives ahead of us, it might be time to start thinking about our lives as a marathon rather than a sprint, and the energy we require to complete that kind of journey.
ENDOMETRIOSIS: A GENERAL OVERVIEW
BY: ZARAH RAHMAN
Midol, pads, and a hot water bottle- we all know what that means. Periods, or menstruation, is a “hormonal process a woman's body goes through each month to prepare for a possible pregnancy”(Menstrual Cycle Tool, 2018). The menstrual cycle accounts for all the hormonal shifts occurring before, during, and after menstruation. There are four phases that occur in the menstrual cycle: the menstrual phase, follicular phase, ovulation phase, and luteal phase. The duration of each phase varies from person to person, however, the entire cycle typically takes 28 days. During the cycle, a mature egg is released from the ovary and forms a structure known as the corpus luteum. The purpose of the corpus lutem is to “house” a mature egg in a gland-like structure, promote thickening and building of the inner uterine lining, and supply necessary hormones/nutrients to ensure adequate growth of the egg after fertilization. If fertilization does not occur, the body relies on the menstrual phase to breakdown the corpus luteum and discard the lining of the uterus.
While the process of bodybuilding and destroying this lining may seem redundant or even insignificant, periods do have associated benefits to the health and well-being of the female reproductive system. The fluctuations in hormone production ensure that the body is well prepared to host a fertilized egg, and this is no easy feat! Specific hormones have to be regulated constantly at various concentrations to allow for healthy growth. But what happens if there are irregularities or abnormalities with the cycle? And how does it impact health and fertilization down the line?
Endometriosis is a medical condition characterized by the growth of uterine tissue on organs and structures outside the uterus. The tissue functions the same way on the outside as it would on the inside, so as the menstrual cycle progresses, the tissue is broken down and tries to exit the body. The randomly dispersed nature of the tissue on surrounding organs and structures makes it unable to leave the body naturally- causing it to remain trapped and induce severe pain and discomfort. A diagnosis of endometriosis is usually met with symptoms that correlate with one or more of the following: painful periods, pain with intercourse, excessive bleeding during or between periods, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, etc (Mayo Clinic, 2019). The cause of the disease is still relatively unknown, but a few hypotheses include underlying immune system disorders, the transformation of peritoneal cells (hormones can propagate change on peritoneal cells), and retrograde menstruation (where menstrual blood flows backward into the pelvic cavity instead of exiting the body, allowing endometrial cells to stick to walls of the pelvic cavity)(Mayo Clinic, 2019). Like other diseases, endometriosis also has its list of risks and complications, the most notable being infertility. To have a successful pregnancy, an egg has to be released, travel through the fallopian tube, meet with the sperm to fertilize, and attach to the uterine wall. If the tissue growth obstructs the fallopian tubes, then the egg is unable to fertilize. Currently, there aren’t any cures for endometriosis, however, there are treatment options to mediate pain and hormonal treatments to help increase the chances of becoming pregnant.
SOURCES:
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/march-is-caffeine-awareness-month-here-s-what-you-need-to-know
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/endometriosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354656
https://www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/your-menstrual-cycle
https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/endometriosis
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